In case you hadn’t heard of them, Wild Meadows are a Shoegaze, Psych-Rock band based out of Melbourne, Australia. We’ve been loving them up on our station and they just released their debut self- titled album so we decided to reach out to them. I tried to set up a phone interview but failed so here’s a good old fashion Q&A with James who plays guitar, synth, and sings for the band.
Q1: Band lineup– How does the band dynamic work? We noticed multiple vocalists. Who does what and how do you write songs? How did the band form?
A: The band started with Donovan and I, the lineups changed a bit over the years. Songs usually start with a chord progression, Jess starts laying down some vocals and it goes from there. This current lineup is the best its ever been.
Q2: Who are some of your major influences?
A: Some of my influences over the years would be My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Ride, Mogwai.
Q3: What’s your favorite song off the new record?
A:It changes all the time but at the moment I’m loving UZI, it sums up a certain feeling we were feeling at the time.
Q4: How did you develop your sound? (what kind of gear?)
A: The gear thing has been changing more and more over time, I’m pretty happy at the moment though, I got a Strymon El Capistan, which is a space echo in a pedal, an amazing piece of gear. The Eventide H9 which I use a lot of reverse reverb is a game changer too.
Q5: We’re very curious to know how the music scenes compare in the US to Australia. What is the music scene like in Melbourne compared to areas in the US? Especially shoegaze music. Is Australia big on shoegaze?
A:Were pretty lucky in Melbourne, which is the music capital of Australia, there’s a really varied and rich music scene with plenty of places to play. A lot of this is because of our excellent community radio stations which support local music. I can’t speak about the US music scene, because its so varied from city to city but my experiences with the UK and Europe are that the live music scene has been massively effected just like the industry as a whole. The gentrification of our city centers is making live music venues unprofitable, there no money for bands, promoters, managers etc, what do you do though? you have to still keep playing and making music.
Q6: Do you have any idea of where your music gets sent to? Is it weird having some random person from Bowling Green, Ohio contact you about it?
A:We’ve been sending records all over the world, The Netherlands, Copenhagen and the US. That’s one of the great things about modern technology, that we can have this conversations and our music tastes can become more eclectic.
Q7: What are your fans like? Are they mostly in Australia?
We do have fans from all over the world which is great, they seem lovely.
Q8: Just to give us an idea of your musical taste. What’s the last song you listened to?
A: Seun Kuti “Black Times” from his excellent new album.
Q9: What are your plans for the future? Upcoming tour? US or Australia?
A:We’re playing gigs around the country to support the album, we would love to go to europe and the US, we just have to work out the logistics.
Q10: Have you ever toured the US? If yes, how does it compare to Australia?
A: I recorded some music in Portland a few years ago with a different project, but I have never played over there. I love the US